Today is providing plenty of economic news, with a key home-price index out at 9 a.m.

MarketWatch’s Ruth Mantell writes: “S&P/Case-Shiller’s price barometer tracking 20 cities showed that year-over-year price growth hit 10.8% in April — a fast pace but down sharply from annual growth of 12.4% in March and a recent peak of 13.7% in November.”

At 10 a.m., we’ll get readings on new-home sales and consumer confidence.

New U.S. homes sold at an annual rate of 504,000 in May to mark the fastest increase in six years, the government said Tuesday. Yet the surprising gain – economists polled by MarketWatch expected a 440,000 increase – was led by a huge surge in the Northeast.

A gauge of consumer confidence rose to 85.2 in June — the highest level since January 2008 — from 82.2 in May, the Conference Board Tuesday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected a June reading of 83.5 …

Apple plans to begin the production in China next month of new iPhones with larger screens, expected to ship to retailers in September, Bloomberg News reported late Monday, citing unidentified sources familiar with the plans.

That’s a picture of the new larger phone. It will be as tall as 10 marketing executives. …. kidding of course, the sizes for the new iPhones will reportedly be 4.7 inches and 5.5 inches.

The adjacent chart shows the UAE ETF, which has struggled since launching about two months ago. It’s down nearly 8% this week, and it’s lost 17% in June to date.

MarketWatch also has the following story:

Dubai stocks slumped on Tuesday, extending recent losses, as margin selling triggered a wider selloff amid growing ownership concerns at one of its main construction companies.

The emirate’s stock market has been among the top risers globally since early 2013, buoyed by a rebounding economy on the back of strengthening trade and tourism and a sharp recovery in its property prices, which had crashed 50% in the wake of the global financial crisis.

Investor sentiment was further boosted by Dubai winning the rights late last year to host the World Expo in 2020, and the United Arab Emirates, of which it is a part, being promoted to emerging-market status by index compiler MSCI in May.

But shares listed on the Dubai bourse have fallen sharply since hitting a multiyear high early last month.

Analysts are penciling in a surge in earnings growth in the second half of this year. FactSet has broken down the figures and found that financials are expected to make the most impressive acceleration, though telecoms are expected to remain the overall growth leaders. You can read the details here.

About a week into the World Cup the average number of goals scored per match is 2.92, putting the tournament on course to become the highest-scoring World Cup since 1970 in Mexico (2.97). The greater number of goals is being blamed in part on hotter weather.

Just as the World Cup has been heating up, increasing the risk of player mistakes, the world consumer price index (CPI) has also been heating up, complicating the task for policymakers at the world’s central banks and increasing the risk of mistakes that could have market implications.

Vertex Pharmaceutical is on a tear Tuesday after reporting positive drug trial results. Analysts at RBC Capital responded by raising the stock’s price target to $120 from $95.

The big picture that investors should remember is this is a major improvement for sick, CF (cystic fibrosis) patients (typically kids), and all our doc feedback is that, if the drug is FDA approved, the patients will get access to it.

The stock soared 42% on Tuesday to $94.01 and rose 27% so far in 2014.

Stocks were higher on the day this morning, until about 12:30 p.m. when sentiment turned sour.

One of the explanations for that, the situation in Iraq is getting out of hand.

From WSJ:

Syrian warplanes struck targets in the western Iraqi province of Anbar on Tuesday, killing at least 50 people as foreign allies of Baghdad’s Shiite-dominated government sought to shore up the crumbling Iraqi armed forces and curb the advances of Sunni insurgents.

More than 132 other people were also wounded when bombs hit the municipal building, a market and a bank in the district of Al Rutba, according to a provincial official and Mohammed Al Qubaisi, a doctor in the district’s main hospital.

The pound fell to $1.6983 in recent trade, snapping a three-session streak of trading above $1.70. The reason for the decline is the same as for the move above $1.70: Bank of England Gov. Mark Carney.

He emphasized the U.K.’s tepid wage growth in testimony to lawmakers, indicating that there’s still slack in the labor market. That could delay the first U.K. interest-rate hike. (Carney had previously said the first rate hike could come sooner than the markets expect.)

Of course, market participants still expect the BOE to hike rates before the Federal Reserve, which should boost the pound against the dollar.

The buzz in the geek world is that Google will introduce easier ways to multitask with Android, including a shortcut to use certain apps without having to open those programs, according to MarketWatch’s Rex Crum.

There are also rumors that Google may be entering domain registration business with the launch of a beta program although information is sparse, according to analyst Sterling Auty at J.P. Morgan.

San Mateo, Calif.-based GoPro, along with early investors, plans to sell as much as $427 million worth of stock in the IPO late Wednesday. That would mark the largest consumer-electronics IPO since battery company Duracell International Inc.’s 1991 debut, according to Dealogic. Duracell agreed to be bought by Gillette Co. in 1996.

An initial share price of $21 to $24 would value it at as much as $3.6 billion, based on information provided by the company.

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